Saddle



Aug. 14, 1934. J. BRANDT 1,970,335

SADDLE Filed Dec. 5, 1935 M ATTOR EYs Patented Aug. 14, 1934 h irs star7 Claims.

. is made with a steel .or other sheet metal stamped frame having avcover of leather, artificial leather or. the like and a thick layer ofhair or other filling and cushioning material between thenietal frameand. the cover; and to retain thecever in. positionione or morelayersof, fabric or artificial leather or the like is provided onthe. underside-of the saddle sheet metal frame asran under cover, and in order toretain the covers. in position, on the frame their peripheralj edges arestitched or sewn together,

and in somecases an. additional binding strip is lapped over. the.peripheral edges; of the two covers andall three parts. sewntogether. I

Heretofore, also, in saddles of this class, varito the frame withoutstitching or the like and whereby the appearance thereof may be renderedmore aesthetic.

Another object is to provide a saddle of the class referred to whereinthe peripheral portions of the saddle cover may be secured to peripheralportions of the saddle frame in an improved manner.

Another object is to provide a saddle of the class referred to whereinthe under cover may be dispensed with.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which myinvention appertains.

My invention is fully disclosed in the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a top plan view of a saddle embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of the under side of the saddle of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the saddle of Fig, 1 taken.approximately from, the plane 3-3 of liig, 1;

Fig. 4 is. av transverse sectional. view of" the saddle of Fig, 1 takenapproximately from the plane l-.l of Fig. l. X

Referring to the. drawing, I. have shown. at 1 the saddle frame, formedfrom a single piece of sheet metal by cutting and stampingoperations.Theframe is, generally of pear form and its peripheral edge is bentdownwardly for. a Q relatively short distance. at the front of the 7saddle and in the particular embodiment illus trated for greater andgreater distances as.at,3 and l, proceeding. toward the rear of thesaddle, and pnojecting downwardly to a maximum extent. at the rearofgthe saddle. asiat. 5.

The entire peripheral; edge of the frame thus provided is bentv upwardlyas. shown. at. 6 ina manner and for a; purpose to'be morev fully ex- Y5plained.

In the rearward portion of the saddle frame 1, there is press-formed ashallow recess, 'L'Which may. be of, any suitable size, contour-and,disposition. In. theform. illustrated, the recess begins. at was: 8slightly.- 'spacedfronr the rear 80 end of theseddle-andiextendsto apoint Q-about midway. of. the. saddle and: laterally extends to points10 andi lltslightly spaced from. the. sides of the saddle.

In the bottom of the recess '7 is provided a'; pair of transverselyspaced perforations l2-12 and bolts l3--13 having large flat heads 14-14are projected downwardly therethrough and may be used to secure to theunder side of the saddle frame any suitable spring and reach member;construction well known in this art.

In the forward part of the frame, there is cut and downwardly pressed aloop 15 through which may be inserted, to secure it to the saddle frame,an element of the spring and reach barrl construction on which thesaddle may be mounted. The bolt 13 and loop 15 are merely oneillustrative means for these purposes and various other means may beemployed as will be clear to those skilled in this art. 190

A pad 16 of felt, rubber or like cushioning material is formedperipherally to fit in the recess '7 and is placed therein andpreferably is of such thickness as to project slightly upwardly out ofthe recess '7 as shown at 17. .A cushioning; layer of filling materialsuch as hair 18 covers the entire upper surface of the saddle frame andof the pad 16, and an outer cover 19 of leather, leather substitute, orlike material, covers the filling. The peripheral portions of the coverare;

bent downwardly and cover the depending portions 3 to 5 inclusive of theframe periphery and the extreme peripheral edge of the cover is disposedwithin and embraced by the upturned peripheral portion 6 of the frame.

With the parts assembled as just described, the peripheral flange 6 ofthe frame is finally bent inwardly upon the embraced cover portions toclamp them securely and permanently upon the frame. The appearance ofthe complete saddle as will now be apparent will be very neat andaesthetic and have attractive lines; and to further add to its aestheticappearance, the ex posed outer face of the flange 6 may be buffed or maybe plated with metal such as chromium and then buffed, thereby providinga metal bead finish entirely around the saddle and in conjunctiontherewith the cover 19 may have a contrasting color such as red orgreen.

If desired, a flap 20 of any suitable material such as fabric, orleather or leather substitute, may be laid upon the saddle frame tocover a perforation made in pressing the loop 15 from the metal of theframe and to prevent the filling material 18 from exuding therethrough,and the forward end of the flap may be clamped within the flange 6 alongwith the portion of the cover 19 at that point.

As will now be clear, by the above described construction, I provide asaddle having the minimum of parts, requiring the minimum of operationsto produce it, and having an improved cushioning effect therein for therider thereon, and a saddle which has exceptional aesthetic merit.

My invention is not limited to the exact details of constructionillustrated and described.

Changes and modifications may be made therein without sacrificingadvantagestherecf and without departing claims. I claim:

1. A saddle comprising a sheet metal frame and a cover'therefor offlexible sheet material,

the cover being secured to the frame within a peripheral fold of theframe metal.

2. Asaddle comprising a press-formed sheet metal frame and a covertherefor of flexible from the scope of the appended sheet material,peripheral portions of the frame being folded to embrace peripheralportions of the cover to secure the cover to the frame.

3. A saddle comprising a sheet metal pressformed frame, and a leather orlike cover, peripheral portions of the frame being bent upwardly toprovide a channel therearound, peripheral portions of the cover beingbent downwardly and disposed in the channel and the channel clamping thecover peripheral portions therein to secure the cover to the frame.

it. A saddle comprising a press-formed sheet metal frame and a covertherefor of flexible sheet material, peripheral portions of the framebeing folded to embrace peripheral portions of the cover to secure thecover to the frame, said frame being formed to provide an upwardly openrecess and a cushioning pad of resilient material disposed within therecess.

5. A saddle comprising a press-formed sheet metal frame and a covertherefor of flexible sheet material, peripheral portions of the framebeing folded to embrace peripheral portions of the cover to secure thecover to the frame, said frame being formed to provide an upwardly openrecess and a cushioning pad of resilient 7 material disposed within therecess, and cushioning filling material disposed both between the coverand the pad and also between the cover and the frame.

6. A saddle comprising a cover of flexible material, cushioning materialdisposed within the cover and a supporting frame element underlying thecushioning material and comprising a peripheral sheet metal foldclampingly embracing the edges of the cover.

'7. A cycle saddle comprising a cushioned saddle top having a cover offlexible material, and a sheet metal binder comprising a folded sheetmetal element clampingly embracing the peripheral edges of the cover andconcealing the unfinished edges thereof and formed to provide a smoothmetallic peripheral surface for the saddle edges to substantiallynon-frictionally engage the clothing of the rider during use of thesaddle.

JOHN W. BRANDT.

